


couldn't live without you, i guess.

by exasperatedmoron



Category: The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Adorable Coldflash, Angst with a Happy Ending, At some parts, Barry Allen Needs a Hug, Coldflash Bingo 2019, Criminal Barry Allen, Fluff, Kinda, M/M, Not Beta Read, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Pre-Relationship, Protective Leonard Snart, Team Flash and The Rogues Work Together, The Rogues (DCU) As Family, but never angst w coldflash, give me a chance yall, im so tired, julian makes a small cameo, ugh i hate tags how even
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 06:31:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18089219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exasperatedmoron/pseuds/exasperatedmoron
Summary: for coldflash bingo.prompt: criminal barry (well i kinda sticked to it)Things were going well, they had a solid plan and he was starting to like the company he had. Of course, something had to go wrong.





	couldn't live without you, i guess.

**Author's Note:**

> it's 4am guys im so tired i tried to sleep but this found it's way into my head and here i am. it's not beta read. or even triple checked, but i can't think straight so heylo hi here's a post. sorry if it's bad or lackluster. goodnight.
> 
> also it was somewhat inspired by a scene from ncis. where ziva gets taken captive. yes au revoir.
> 
> update: woah i just reread this and oh wow i shouldn't post things i haven't proof read yet. apologies to anyone who read this before my sober ass fixed it. (not that i was drunk. just slightly very extremely sleepy)

Barry sighed and tried to contain the tears in his eyes as he tried to think where everything started to go wrong.

There was a new meta in town who overthrew a whole Family and took over as their Head. Strangely, no one knew who they were, what they looked like or anything about them at all. All of their henchmen were physically unable to tell them anything, which led team Flash to believe that they were dealing with a meta.

Barry being Barry enlisted the help of Leonard Snart who brought the rest of his Rogues in once the older man realized the scientists were looking for the same meta they were. The teams ‘worked together’ for two weeks, doing recon, research and creating devices that should stop the meta they were after.

After staking out all of the meta’s supposed whereabouts, the team managed to find out that their power that could only take effect through talking (they discovered the dead body of a deaf henchman, and another was able to explain why he was killed, but nothing about the meta himself), they did not leave their ‘lair’ and that they had many members in their family (and possibly an even larger arsenal of weapons).

The two teams came up with a plan to send Barry, Hartley and Cisco in to depower the meta while he was asleep and bring them to the pipeline. However, since they didn’t know the inner workings of the Family, the three of them posed as criminals three days prior so that they’d be taken to ‘join’ the Family, find out the meta’s schedule, learn the layout from the inside, and initiate the next phase. Caitlin, Len and Lisa would man the consoles while Cisco would breach himself and the other two into the lair after the tech team disabled the cameras. Barry and Cisco would then hide, after Barry has flashed Hartley to door of the man’s office. They were supposed to wait for Hartley to give a signal that he managed to put on the bracelet and the three of them would breach out of there.

Barry and Len were the ones who really wanted the plan to work out the most. Especially since they tried going after Len’s rogues, injuring Lisa and Axel in the process. Lisa recovered quickly, but Axel had to use a wheelchair and crutches for a few months because of a broken femur. Len’s protective instinct and Barry’s ‘do-gooder’ heart led the two to research and plan out the details everyday, from the second Barry got back from work until it was the middle of the night when Barry had to go to bed.

A few days in, Len started staying in a room at STAR Labs since he kept staying over anyway and Barry would sometimes crash on the couch in the lounge when it was too late for him to go home leading the two to start growing closer after spending so much time together. Barry started seeing the sides of Len that only came out around people he was comfortable around like Lisa, his rogues and eventually, Barry himself. Len started to see Barry as a strong, compassionate and determined man, and not incompetent kid (even though he looked like jailbait).

In between planning and researching, Len would teach Barry different skills that Barry liked to call 'How to be a Criminal 101". The thief would bring different locks and safes over to teach the hero how to pick the lock without his speed, control his facial expressions, negotiate with other criminals, look less like a cop and other tips that he deemed important and Barry deemed extra. Barry drew the line at learning how to hold a knife because 'he's not 12, Len.'

Sometimes before they'd start pouring over blueprints and their notes, The two would order take out and eat dinner together. Sometimes they’d talk about the plan, sometimes they’d talk about their day. Barry and Len knew there was something growing between them, something that was always there from the start but was just getting harder to ignore and shove down now that they knew more about each other - now that they mattered more to each other. They never brought up the side long looks, the tired smiles, the way they’d fall asleep on each other’s shoulder or the change in their dynamics when they were in private.

Thinking about it made Barry wished he said something before he was thrown into this hell hole.

The operation went wrong fast. Apparently, the man started to suspect the three of them on the first day they were taken in. Cisco and Barry’s criminal records were ‘too perfect’ and one of their hackers found out it was forged recently. He managed to find out who they really were, tied them to STAR Labs and connected the dots that they were part of team Flash. He confirmed it himself when he blended in with the henchman an gave an indirect verbal command that they should have followed, but due to the tech in their ears and the fact that Hartley was deaf, they didn’t. Then he knew and all he had to do was wait.

It all happened too fast. As soon as Hartley closed the door behind him, he felt two large men grab him and pin him to the wall. He tried to cry out for help through the comms but all he heard was static, which meant there was something in the room blocking their transmission. Fortunately, his cry was loud enough to alert Barry and Cisco. Unfortunately, it meant that when they ran in, they were caught too.

The man was really well prepared for it, too. Barry and Cisco didn’t have a chance to use their powers before the Family’s version of meta dampeners were locked around their necks and they were pinned to the wall as well. Not only that, but the room was dark too, they never got a chance to see the meta’s face before they were knocked out.

Even with his speed taken, Barry still had the speed force in him. It helped him wake up faster than it was supposed to take and realized he was in a van, tied up and attached to Cisco and Hartley. There were two other guys in the van in the front seat, not paying attention to him since he was supposed to be unconscious. Barry manage to wiggle his way out of is restraints, using his own sweat (and some blood) as lubricant. Once he was out, he acted quickly waking up the other two and using Hartley’s hairpin to pick the lock to the door, like Len taught him.

As soon as the door opened, the three of them jumped out. Thankfully, there were no cars behind them. It alerted the henchmen and they swerved to try and chase after the three heroes. Barry turned around and realised that there was no way they’d be able to outrun a van without their powers. Making the decision, he shoved the two to start running in the direction of an alley that was far, but too narrow for the van to pass through. He let himself slow down and get hit by the car, allowing himself to get captured again but gave his friends time to escape.

When Barry woke up the second time, he was tied to a chair and facing a wall with his knees pressed against it. His arms, leg and head had dried blood on them from being hit by the van and rolling for quite a distance after it. He tried to move or look around but it was dark and his leg was in extreme pain, like it was broken.

A voice came from behind him, the same voice that he heard when he entered the Head’s office. Barry found out the man’s powers were mind control through verbal commands. The man tortured Barry by making him break his own bones, hit his own head on the wall and kick his broken leg against the wall repeatedly. The man never asked about Barry’s details, or even why he was even there. But what worried Barry the most was that when he left, he didn’t call him by his psudo criminal name. He called him ‘Barry’.

It’s been three days since his capture and Barry was starving, thirsty and in immense pain. He’s passed out a few times from the pain alone and found himself wishing a handful of times that during his torture he’d pass out and never wake up. The fact that he’s been there for three days told him one thing at least - That he was in a different location so his team would have a harder time tracking him down.

He gave up trying to escape on the first day, realizing there’s no way he could make it out with both his legs and arms broken. He couldn’t even look around the room for weak spots, not when he was facing the wall in a pitch black room. He had nothing else to do but wait til his friends find him, or until he died. Whichever came first. He was expecting the latter, to be honest, felling the life slowly being drained away as he weaker, passing out longer and not even screaming anymore from how dry his throat was.

What he didn’t expect was hearing someone drop two things behind him, one on top of the other. It sounded like a chair and someone sitting on it. The man then grabbed Barry’s chair and spun him around, but Barry still couldn’t see anything with how dark was. The man told them to talk to each other and decide who dies. If they don’t decide by the time he’s back in 10 minutes, he’ll kill them both. The sick meta laughed and exited the room, locking the door behind him again.

“Who are you?” Barry croaked, his voice hoarse and cracking from the lack of water. He could barely get a word out, so having a conversation about who would live and die was not something he was looking forward to.

“Scarlet.” the man breathed out, sounding like he was relieved and surprised at the same time.

“Len?!” Barry exclaimed, sending him into a short coughing fit. “What are you doing here?”

“We were tracking him down.’’

“Why? Wh...Why did you get yourself caught?”

“Revenge, Barry.”

“Revenge for?”

“For you. We thought you were dead.”

Len started to explain how the meta taunted those at STAR Labs with pictures of Barry all contorted and bleeding in massive amounts of blood. It looked like he was dead, some even had his eyes open and staring at nothing. Barry claimed the meta must have done it when he was passed out. Len then revealed that they did have a plan and while Barry wasn’t an expected variable in what they had installed, it would still work.

Barry didn’t know what was going on. But when the man returned, Barry heard a scuffle and a small explosion. Cisco, Hartley and Axel worked in a minature bomb that was undetectable by any type of scanner. Len had it hidden in tooth and waited until the 42 minute mark from his capture to use it, since that was the amount of time it took to evacuate the henchmen and anyone else from the building. They didn’t have time to make sure the blast was contained and small, there was always a chance it would be big enough to kill everyone in the room, possibly more.

“You... You weren't planning on going back?”

“No strings on me."

“But why?”

“Like I said, no - “

“Leonard, why?”

“... Couldn’t live without you, I guess.”

Barry felt hands undo the straps tying him to the chair and took advantage of Barry’s speechless and surprised state to unwind his leg from the foot of the chair, causing Barry to jerk back to attention. He felt Len untie something around his eyes and carry him bridal style. Barry figured he was blindfolded, even though he was in a dark room. The meta was paranoid about his identity, after all. Len started walking out of the building, presumably to the meeting spot where a breach was supposed to be located at.

“How did you memorize the layout so well that you could walk in the dark.”

“In the dark?”

“Yeah.”

“Scarl..." Len's voice drifted off as he stopped walking for a moment. He felt the older man turn his head to Barry and after a while, started moving again. "Just rest. We’re almost there.”

Barry felt himself getting tired again, unconsciousness threatening to seep in. He tried to stay awake though, but lost the battle as soon as Len stepped into the breach, the force of the pull too strong that Barry didn’t have the energy to keep his eyes open.

When Barry woke up, he no longer felt the heavy weight of the collar around his neck. He could feel the speed force as strong as he could before. He could feel his injuries healing (albeit rather slowly, but still faster than an average human). He recognized the smell of STAR Lab’s med bay and started to feel safe again. He was going to be fine, he was home.

He tried to sit up to find a light switch since it was dark. It must have been night time and the lights were off. But before he even moved an inch forward, his ribs screamed in pain and he winced, groaning when his sudden flop back to the mattress jolted the pain in all his other injuries.

Then, he heard a bunch of people calling his name and footsteps running into his room. He felt two hands reach for him, one pair of gloved hands going for his pulse point and eyelid, while another pair or cold hands grabbed his hand and shoulder. The voices told him to stay still and not move and he recognized them as nearly all of his team members, the Rogues and maybe even Julian somewhere in the mix. He felt his heart warm up at the amount of people that were there who cared about him, even Mark who threatened to rain on Barry if he tried to get out of bed.

The room grew silent when he asked them to turn on the lights. When he questioned why, Len asked Barry what he thought the time was. When Len corrected Barry and said it was three in the afternoon, Barry connected the dots together. Before he could descend into a panic attack or think about the possibility of being blind forever, Caitlin and Shawna were quick to assure him that it was all temporary. His healing was back, it was slow but it was back. He’d be blind for a week at most, since his body would be focused more on his bigger injuries, leaving the smaller ones like the head injury that caused his blindness for last.

After most of them gave him a light hug or a pat on the shoulder, Len told that they were alone. Barry’s smile fell and tears started to fall down his eyes, letting everything he went though hit him. Len squeezed his hand and wiped the tears off Barry’s face, reassuring the speedster that he was safe and that he will be okay. That they'd be okay.

When Barry cooled down, Len placed a hand on the hero’s cheek to wipe the last drop of tear from the younger man’s face and leaned down to give Barry a gentle kiss. He told the speedster that he’d be there for him every step of the way. Barry smiled again, realizing that his nightmare was over and tilted his chin up for another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> hi come say hi on tumblr (no idea how the linking works but it's the same usename so). or come send me some criticism, i'd love the feedback <3  
> also i know it says originally posted on tumblr but idt if it's up yet. it's in the queue. yes.  
> okay, shalom, see you in the next episode of buzzfeed unsolved  
> k wait no, wrong fandom.  
> (i'm so tired)


End file.
